Movie Review for 27 Dresses (2008)

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Review #602 of 365
Movie Review of 27 Dresses (2008) [PG-13] 107 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.75
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When Seen: 19 January 2008
Time: 11:45 am
DVD Release Date: 29 April 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer

Soundtrack: Download now from Randy Edelman - 27 Dresses - or - order the CD below

Directed by: Anne Fletcher (Step Up)
Written by: Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada)

Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) • Malin Akerman (The Heartbreak Kid) • James Marsden (Enchanted) • Edward Burns (One Missed Call) • Judy Greer (American Dreamz) • Brian Kerwin ("One Life to Live") • Maulik Pancholy ("30 Rock") • Melora Hardin (The Comebacks) • David Castro (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints)

Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to see photos from the Premiere of 27 Dresses
Click to read the spoiler points for 27 Dresses
Whether because once one becomes addicted to Judd Apatow approved comedy one just cannot go back or because the plot has been done in one form or another 27 times, 27 Dresses just begs to be hung back up in the closet with it's dusty, bridesmaid dress cousins. Directed by Anne Fletcher from a screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna, it's so odd that neither noticed that their film couldn't have been more formulaic had they just actually taken the scripts from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and My Best Friends Wedding put them in a fancy new Food Processor from William Sonoma right off the wedding gift list, puréed on high for 15 minutes, and changed the names of the characters around a bit. Sadly, that's basically how 27 Dresses plays out.

See for yourself. The story begins with "always a bridesmaid never a bride" Jane (Katherine Heigl) performing in two weddings in one night. This is how she gets noticed by Kevin Doyle (James Marsden) who finds her absolutely fascinating in, at first, a novelty kind of way. He spots her dashing between the wedding he's at and a cab but in various stages of changing between the two required dresses. As 'sweet' as Kevin might seem on the outside, his cynicism toward weddings makes him singularly repulsive to her were she even available for a relationship which she's not because she's woefully and incurably in love with her handsome, rugged, successful, eco-conscious boss, George (Edward Burns).

Get a hold of How to Lose a Guy 10 Days before My Best Friend's Wedding to tide you over until 27 Dresses comes out on DVD…
Kevin doesn't know this yet, and he's not willing to give up on Jane any time soon. Meanwhile, Jane's younger sister, Tess (Malin Akerman) shows up at her apartment needing a place to stay for a couple weeks. Segue, in case you didn't foresee this coming, into Tess getting between George and Jane eventually securing his marriage proposal. As, Tess and George move closer to their wedding which, of course, Jane is doing all the planning, Kevin works to rescue Jane from her life of 2nd places and also-rans while secretly planning a huge exposé on her life in the "Style" section of the New York Journal where is a writer. Well, you can read the spoiler points to find out what happens, if you need to and cannot already guess. Here's a hint, if you've seen any proverbial 'chick flick', you've already pretty much seen 27 Dresses.

While the story is recycled and derivative of previous similarly themed films right down to the rousing musical number where everyone in the room strikes up a tune, the characters of Jane and Kevin are fun and unique due to the performances by Katherine Heigl. While Ms Heigl does border on being a little too intense in this role—the character's tense enough without her having to be as well, under understated beauty in the shadow of Malin Akerman's Tess makes her practically irresistible if the gigantic romantic streak in her doesn't in the first place. James Marsden, likewise, has been growing into his own of late after tid-bit roles. Even in X-Men he was not really a leading character. A shorter, more youthful, darker-haired version of Matthew McConaughey, this Stillwater, OK native brings the same southern charm and brilliant blue eyes but with a slightly more naïve approach. In other words, he's so good-looking that even his editor, Maureen (Melora Hardin) at the NYJ risks crossing the sexual-harrassment line by mentioning his "ridiculously handsome face". But, it's not just his looks, it's the personality he gives Kevin. He's cocky and over-confident to Mt. Everest-sized assurances that Jane will come around, and yet, like a lenticular lens photo, if you tilt him just the right way, you'll see a very different picture. He's just as tough a nut to crack as Jane. Together, they make a charming example of magnets with north poles constantly repelling until, just maybe, one of them may flip and an inseparable attraction may just yet be born.

Edward Burns is cast well as Jane's George, well, not Jane's George, but Jane's boss George. Melora Hardin endures another role of typecasting—her third in a row with the previous two being in The Heartbreak Kid and The Brothers Solomon. The role and her performance are made for each other. Meanwhile, poor Judy Greer, too has got to get out of these mean best friend of the main character roles herself. She's becoming a caricature of herself. In general, the cast is mostly adequate given the redundancy of the story, with only really Katherine Heigl and James Marsden standing out far enough to notice; and, otherwise, the film would have been singularly unworthy of being made for theatrical release. Get a hold of How to Lose a Guy 10 Days before My Best Friend's Wedding to tide you over until 27 Dresses comes out on DVD or download.

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Other Projects Featuring 27 Dresses (2008)
Cast Members
Katherine Heigl • Malin Akerman • James Marsden
Edward Burns • Judy Greer • Brian Kerwin
Maulik Pancholy • Melora Hardin • David Castro
Director
Anne Fletcher
Writer
Aline Brosh McKenna
CD Soundtrack
VHS
Review-lite 27 Dresses (2008) [max of 150 words]
Whether because once one becomes addicted to Judd Apatow approved comedy one just cannot go back or because the plot has been done in one form or another 27 times, 27 Dresses just begs to be hung back up in the closet with it's dusty, bridesmaid dress cousins. It's odd that neither the director nor writer noticed that their film couldn't have been more formulaic had they just actually taken the scripts from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and My Best Friends Wedding put them in a fancy new Food Processor from William Sonoma right off the wedding gift list, puréed on high for 15 minutes, and changed the names of the characters around a bit. Sadly, that's basically how 27 Dresses plays out despite some charming performances by Katherine Heigl as the perennial bridesmaid and James Marsden as her soul mate in disguise.
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